Mennonite family has life filled with devotion, discipline

SHANNA SISSOM | Herald Managing Editor

Published 3:38 pm, Sunday, October 7, 2012

Photo: Shanna Sissom/Plainview Herald

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The Martin family gathers at their table in Halfway, as a neighbor child (on the left) also joins them. The Mennonite family is devoted to their Christian faith, and avoids worldly influences that would distract them from God. less

The Martin family gathers at their table in Halfway, as a neighbor child (on the left) also joins them. The Mennonite family is devoted to their Christian faith, and avoids worldly influences that would ... more

Photo: Shanna Sissom/Plainview Herald

Mennonite family has life filled with devotion, discipline

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HALFWAY — The Martin family of Halfway lives peacefully and prayerfully together, exemplifying their Mennonite faith in daily devotion to God.

Their way of life, as head of household Ethan Martin explained, is in their desire to follow the Bible and Jesus Christ as their savior.

“Sometimes people think it’s a closed group, but actually anyone can come to our services,” Martin said. “We believe in keeping a pure church, and we insist on every member being a born-again Christian and living a life of holiness.”

There are about 13 families who attend Plainview Bible Fellowship, where Mennonites also educate their children in the church school. Martin serves as a minister at the church.

Most of the families are larger than what is considered the norm outside their faith.

The Martins, who have eight children ranging from age 4 to 22, said theirs is about the typical family size for Mennonites.

“We see children as a blessing, and not as something in the way,” Martin explained. As for the family unit, “We strongly believe the wife, mother to be the keeper of the home. Her husband is the head of home. That’s how they (women) find fulfillment,”

His wife, Rosanna, said they keep a garden and grow some of their own food, but she also occasionally shops at Walmart. Martin supports his family by performing excavation work and farms with his sons. They try to be frugal in spending.

“I suppose our living expenses are low,” Martin said, and recalled a real estate agent telling him 10 years ago about the cost of living. Their family lives on considerably less than what that agent described.

Martin explained Mennonites believe God has called them to live modestly, not for vanity or show. This modesty is perhaps most apparent in how women and girls dress. Rosanna Martin and daughters make their own dresses with a sewing machine. This past week, they canned applesauce, as the youngest of the clan, 4-year-old Kendall chomped on an apple.

Ethan is originally from Pennsylvania and Rosanna from Canada. They met at a Bible school in Ohio before getting married and starting a family.

“We believe in carrying out the biblical principal God lays out, to raise our children in fear of God and shield them from influences that would steer them from God,” Martin explained,

The children participate in household chores, play outside, ride bikes and have their own volleyball net. Sometimes the family goes camping and fishing, though Martin concedes with a chuckle that they’ve never had much luck with the latter. Sometimes a story is read while the family gathers around in the evenings, other times the children are scattered about the house doing their own things.

With their oldest son married and living outside the home, there are nine family members under one roof, with six bedrooms.

Every morning there is family worship time, with prayer and Bible reading, a daily tradition shared by all members of their church.

But television, movies and Internet are not a part of their lives. They also do not participate in elections, and Martin points to Romans 13.

“We believe in separation of church and state and the kingdom of God is our purpose. Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world. We would not go to war,” Martin explained. “We appreciate living in a land with freedom and we believe God places government leaders in authority.”

As for those outside their faith understanding them, Martin said their concern is that people know them as Christians.

Some people, he said, think theirs is a religion of good works.

“We believe we are saved through faith in Jesus Christ, but our faith will produce good works,” he explained. “Faith without works is dead.”

Theirs is a life of devotion and discipline, also expressed by outward appearance.

“Our faith and our belief produces our culture,” he said. “We don’t live this way just to be quaint or different. We believe peace in our hearts creates peace in our lives.”